Today news
2025-02-07 11:09:00
Former Plaid Cymru leader and Senedd Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas has died at the age of 78, his family has announced.
Dafydd Elis-Thomas led Plaid between 1984 and 1991, and served as MP for Meirionydd and then Meirionydd Nant Conwy between 1974 and 1992, when he was appointed to the House of Lords.
He was the first presiding officer, or speaker, of the new Welsh Assembly when it opened in 1999.
Known for being independent minded, he later clashed with the Plaid leadership and left the party in 2016, eventually serving as a minister – though not a party member – in Carwyn Jones and Mark Drakeford’s governments.
He retired from the Senedd and front-line politics in 2021.
In a statement his family said he died “peacefully at his home” on Friday morning following a short illness.
“The family request privacy at this difficult time.”
